Back to DeLorean Mailing List Page. Return to Back Issues page.
Having problems with these pages? Have a good idea for the back Issues? Email me at: backissues(AT)dmcnews.com
Member of the LinkExchange
Tuesday, 25 June 1996 Volume 02 : Number 133
In this issue:
RE: Start inhibit / door latch woes: how embarrassing
A tale of two batteries
Dumb and dumber?
DMC numbers by year
Re: Start inhibit
Re: Embarrassment
Radiators, mechanics?
Re: Starter Relay and Batteries
Big battery
VIN Confusion.
Windshield washer pump
Re: Windshield washer pump
REPLACEMENT WHEELS
Re: The first DeLorean?
VIN #502
Re: fan fail / clutch woes
Intro/Oil Pressure Q.
Re: oil pressure / old gas. My clutch.
Water Hose Problem
Re: oil pressure / old gas.
Re: Embarrassment
Re: VIN Confusion.
D1 shipping and exhust manifold gaskets
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Rob Hook, mail06754(AT)pop.net
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 10:44:30 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: RE: Start inhibit / door latch woes: how embarrassing
Hehe. I wasn't going to say anything unless you did. :)
It looks like Chase Clark may have had the same problem you do from his
message titled "Lock". Perhaps you should check the adjustment of the
linkage as he suggested. If you're going to do it on a weekday perhaps I
could come by--I'd welcome the opportunity to actually work on (or help
work on) a DeLorean. Also, I checked with my dad and he said that almost
every relay Bosch made was used by Mercedes in one car or another. He
also has a book with schematics for many of them. If there are any
relays that the DeLorean doesn't have a cross-reference for, perhaps we
could figure it out with the help of this manual.
I imagine the start inhibit relay in the 5-speeds would stop the car from
starting if the clutch were not pushed in as this is a common safety
feature.
- --Rob Hook
------------------------------
From: Mike Substelny, SUBSTEM(AT)cesmtp.ccf.org
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 10:45:09 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: A tale of two batteries
All your advice was correct: my A/C just needed Freon, not
the elaborate electrical diagnosis I've been giving it. Thank
you all. As soon as I got it working last week I remembered
a tip that I want to post.
When I first got my car it had an unbelievable electrical
problem. If I was idling in traffic with everything turned on
(a/c, headlights, brake lights, cooling fans, etc.) my voltage
got so low that the car could barely run. The fuel injector is
somewhat voltage sensitive, since that fuel pump must
constantly supply the right amount of fuel pressure to keep it
running smoothly.
My poor little Dulcillier (sp?) alternator couldn't keep up!
Thinking the alternator was faulty, the previous owner had it
rebuilt just before I bought the car, but that did not help.
More than once the car completely died on me under heavy
load and would not restart because the battery was too low.
I discovered that under heavy load, with a newly rebuilt
alternator, the battery was actually being drained to keep the
car running!
I considered getting the Bosch alternator, but it seemed a
shame to remove the Dulcillier when there really wasn't
anything wrong with it. My solution: get a BIG battery. Two
years ago I replaced the old 375 cca battery with a 1,000 cca
model and the car has run much better ever since. That
huge reservoir of electrons keeps system voltage nice and
stable, smoothing out the voltage peaks and valleys that
stalled my engine.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this
also reduces wear and tear on all the electrical motors,
especially the cooling fans and fuel pump. I believe DC
motors like these actually run hotter when called upon to
operate under low voltage. Finally, it allows me to keep the
doors open with marker lights lit for hours without worrying
too much about a dead battery.
I put the old 375 cca battery in my 1970 K-5 Blazer. That
battery has never given me any problems since. Starting a
350 cid high compression V8 turns out to be a lot easier than
keeping a power-hungry DeLorean running. I'm sure a
DeLorean would happily gobble up 1.21 gigawatts if you
could supply it.
- -Mike Substelny
------------------------------
From: Mike Substelny, SUBSTEM(AT)cesmtp.ccf.org
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 11:09:21 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Dumb and dumber?
>According to the parts manual the oil pressure switch is
>located on the left side of the engine, not on the right side
>next to the oil filter as I stupidly thought until a few minutes
>ago.
Chase, if you're dumb then I'm dumber. I think the DeLorean
has TWO oil pressure sensors, one for the gauge and one for
the idiot light. If I'm right, they are on opposite sides of the
engine, and one of them IS beside the oil filter.
- -Mike Substelny
------------------------------
From: Knut S Grimsrud, Knut_S_Grimsrud(AT)ccm.jf.intel.com
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 11:40:17 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: DMC numbers by year
The following is the best I have been able to determine for the number
of DMC's produced by year. This likely is not as accurate as some of
the more detailed breakdowns, but gives a good overview.
'81 6539 cars VIN 649 and up (first 500 were for production training)
VIN 520-648 were test vehicles for DOT and EPA
and were destroyed or disassembled after completion.
[DeLorean World Vol.4-#4]
'82 1126 cars VIN 10000 and up
'83 918 cars VIN 15000 and up, 143 of these cars VIN 20000 and up
8583 cars total
Based on the production numbers, you will notice that there are some
major
skips in the VIN sequence numbers. For example, the '83 cars start at
15000
and skip to 16000 very quickly. I think the 17000 series were Canadian
market cars, and I think the 20000 series cars were completed after the
company was in receivership.
If anyone has a car or hard data that would require this information be
updated, please let me know. With the number of experts on the mailing
list, we could probably assemble a complete VIN index.
Knut Grimsrud
DOA Chapter 41
------------------------------
From: Mike Substelny, SUBSTEM(AT)cesmtp.ccf.org
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 12:29:35 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Start inhibit
Rob Hook wrote:
>I imagine the start inhibit relay in the 5-speeds would stop
>the car from starting if the clutch were not pushed in as
>this is a common safety feature.
I have never tried to start my car without using the clutch, but
the wiring diagram doesn't show a switch on the clutch.
- -Mike Substelny
------------------------------
From: Mike Substelny, SUBSTEM(AT)cesmtp.ccf.org
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 12:30:14 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Embarrassment
Chase, Bryan, Marv, etc:
Maybe we should come up with a "can you top this"
embarassing moments in DeLorean history. We don't want
to devalue the car TOO much by griping about it in public,
but I think a collection of humorous / ironic stories would be
a lot of fun. For example:
"The day I bought my DeLorean I showed it off at a local
carnival with the doors open. Not knowing any better, I ran
the battery down. Some friends and I tried to push start it,
being cool and non-chalant in front of the carnival crowd.
Ever try to push start a car with a Bosch mechanical fuel
injector? It is impossible to look cool! My friends still tease
me about the hilarious exploits that followed, as I tried to
convince everyone that nothing was wrong . . ."
If anyone likes the idea I will volunteer to edit and compile the
stories into a short anthology. Since some of the stories
may be long you can email them to me instead of clogging
the DML with them. If we come up with something funny that
is suitable for a DeLorean World feature, we can split the fifty
bucks. Otherwise, maybe James would make the anthology
available here . . .?
- -Mike Substelny
------------------------------
From: ausmith(AT)pdx.oneworld.com
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 12:30:35 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Radiators, mechanics?
Chase
Your woes with mechanics is the reason I do most of the work on my
car (s) myself.
I had the radiator go, while in Portland, on the DeLorean I had in the
'80s. I had plenty of warning and should have fixed it before it
went. I learned to stay ahead of the curve from that experience.
Fortunately I have a friend with a car trailer, that he uses for his
antique popcorn waggon, and he came over and got me and my car. I took
the radiator out and was surprised to find the plastic tanks. First
time I'd ever seen such a thing. Went to "Alaska Brass" the following
week and got some sheet brass and tubing that I used to fabricate
"real" tanks. The people didn't believe me when I told them what I
was going to do so the next week I took it in and showed them my nice
brushed brass tanks. The whole crew got down on the ground to take a
look. As far as I know those tanks are still in the car and working,
a little green by now, no doubt.
By the way, if anyone knows the whereabouts of Vin#6676, I would
like to know.
My current car sits in the garage waiting for me to figure out the
locks and toll booth window. I think I'll work on those things today.
It's raining here on the north Oregon coast (surprise) so I won't be
doing any yard work and my store is closed today.
Last week I installed a luggage rack. If any of you are going to do
this, assemble it and position it on the car first. I decided to do
that when the directions seemed inadequate and am glad I did.
Enough rambling, to work!
Chris
------------------------------
From: Chase Clark, stormrider(AT)socketis.net
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 12:44:48 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Starter Relay and Batteries
>I imagine the start inhibit relay in the 5-speeds would stop the car from
>starting if the clutch were not pushed in as this is a common safety
>feature.
Guess again Rob. After having driven automatics for several years, I made
the mistake of trying to start my DeLorean with it still in gear a couple
of times right after purchasing it. The car jerked forward a bit, but
luckily nothing was close by so no damage was done.
A while back I might have posted some information about the removal of the
starter relay and factory wiring modification that was recommended to be
performed on about the first 5,000 '81s that were produced. If anyone
needs
it (Mike Substelny maybe?), let me know and I'll repost it. Basically,
without the modification, some cars might not turn over if the battery is
slightly discharged.
Uhhmmm, a higher powered battery does sound cheaper and easier than
putting
a 110-amp alternator into my car. I'll have to check into that. Thanks
Mike, although I'm sure everyone would love to hear what battery you
purchased and if it fits into the battery well properly?
~ Chase
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- -
Stormrider Media Productions P.O. Box 105301
Chase Clark, Co-Owner Jefferson City, Missouri
65110-5301
Voice/Fax (573)635-0622 Email: stormrider(AT)socketis.net
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
- -
------------------------------
From: Mike Substelny, SUBSTEM(AT)cesmtp.ccf.org
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 14:11:37 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Big battery
>. . . although I'm sure everyone would love to hear what
>battery you purchased and if it fits into the battery well
>properly?
The battery is a Champion, as I recall. I do not remember
anything else, but I *think* it has 1,000 cca. The battery well
is big enough to hold almost any battery with room to spare,
there are only two problems:
1) You can't see the top of a big battery unless you remove
it, which is more trouble than it is worth. I went to the
parking lot at lunch to get the model number for you, but
while it is in the car I cannot read it.
2) The hold-down strap has hopelessly disappeared behind
this monster battery, but I do not really need it. The
battery is snug enough.
Note that you must attach the rear lead before you slide a
big battery into the well (mine was more than long enough)
because there is not enough room to reach the back terminal
with your hand after the battery is in place.
- -Mike Substelny
------------------------------
From: Eric J.Hennebury, aj532(AT)freenet.toronto.on.ca
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 15:15:02 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: VIN Confusion.
All of this talking about VIN's and build dates has managed to
rekindle my curiosity about my own car, as well as the VIN issue in
general. My car has VIN 17065, with a build tag stamped September 1982.
I purchased it from the original owner who, at the time of its purchase,
was told that it was one of the last 20 cars intended for import into
Canada. Chase had said that the Canadian cars had 20*** VIN's.
So far I have gotten the impression that any cars with VIN's
greater than 16000 (Marv's car) were built by KAPAC. I can only assume
that the 16*** cars were intended for the American market. Does anyone
have any info on the intent of the 17*** and 20*** cars?
Is anyone from KAPAC on line here? Perhaps they could provide
solid information on VIN ranges, quantities, and intents. Wouldn't it be
cool to comprise a VIN map from the first to the last with a
corresponding build calendar and special mention given to unusual cars?
I know I find it an interesting proposition! Who knows, if spare time
allows, I may embark on that venture myself.
- -Eric
------------------------------
From: Knut S Grimsrud, Knut_S_Grimsrud(AT)ccm.jf.intel.com
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 18:40:41 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Windshield washer pump
I have heard that the pump for the winshield washer is a commodity
item. Does anyone have a pointer on what a suitable cross reference
is?
Knut Grimsrud
DOA Chapter 41
------------------------------
From: ausmith(AT)pdx.oneworld.com
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 23:50:35 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Windshield washer pump
Knut,
With my other D I took the failed pump out and to NAPA. Got one that
was identical.
Chris
------------------------------
From: Scott Mueller, SCOTTAMUELLER(AT)msn.com
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 1996 23:50:48 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: REPLACEMENT WHEELS
I own 002981, a 1981 DMC, 5 speed, gray interior, with 12,000 original
miles.
I know the mileage is accurate because I purchased the car from the
original
owner (my Father).
I'm looking for a replacement set of wheels. The originals are
silver/grey
without any stripes. My Goodyear NCT's are in excellent shape, but I
would
like to save them for use when I eventually show the car. Has anybody
installed aftermarket wheels on there car, if so , what kind?
Anybody have an extra set of wheels available? Please E-mail me at
SCOTTAMUELLER(AT)MSN.COM
I live in Contra Costa County which is east of San Francisco.
**********
I'm also interested in meeting fellow owners in my local area. I have
had no
luck in locating any owners in Contra Costa County. I was told by the
Deloreans Owners Org. that there used to be a group near me.
**********
I recently got the car on the road after it had been in storage for 10
years.
The A/C did not work. The R-12 had leaked out, so it was just a matter
of
evacuating the system and recharging it.
**********
I have only put about 1000 miles on the car since it has been
recomissioned,
last week while driving it in very hot weather, the fan fail light kept
flashing on/off. The engine temperature remained steady and the A/C was
on.
Any suggestions as to what was going on?
I recall that a CD was being put together, any word on when it will be
done.
I might be willing to prepurchase a copy to help defray the production
costs.
I haver really enjoyed reading this news letter, and have found it very
informative.
SCOTTAMUELLER(AT)MSN.COM
------------------------------
From: Ddl52(AT)aol.com
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 11:04:16 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: The first DeLorean?
Here is some info on undocumented DeLorean VIN #'s.
Several years ago, I purchased DeLorean # 515 from a private salvage yard
near Detroit. It had been crash tested at a nearby facility and had
extensive damage to the front end. At the time, there were also two other
crash tested DeLoreans numbered somewhere between 500-515. The owner
said he
had other "crash" DeLoreans which he had sold earlier. Some of these cars
may have been repaired. My intention was to use parts from the crashed
DeLorean for replacement parts for my drivable car as needed.
Thought you might be interested in this information.
Dennis
------------------------------
From: Randall118(AT)aol.com
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 11:09:01 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: VIN #502
I recently saw vin # 502 a car that is available fo rsale. It has a
Legend
turbo the only factory turbo(this was the prototype) It is available from
Stephen Wynne at DeLorean Motor Company.
Good luck.
Randall
------------------------------
From: Mike Substelny, SUBSTEM(AT)cesmtp.ccf.org
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 11:09:22 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: fan fail / clutch woes
Scott Meuller wrote:
>the fan fail light kept flashing on/off. The engine
>temperature remained steady and the A/C was on. Any
>suggestions as to what was going on?
Sounds like you have the original fan control module, Scott.
It the FAN FAIL light bugs you you can make/buy a bypass
that consists of three spade connectors and two fuses.
Install this in place of the forwardmost/outboardmost relay in
the relay compartment. FANZILLA is an even better idea for
replacing the relay. Do not just buy another relay, because
this will not fix the problem. If you need instructions on
making/installing the bypass let me know.
BTW I blew out my clutch last night :-(
It had almost exactly 50,000 miles on it. Anyone know a
Volvo replacement? (I think this was addressed before, but I
haven't checked yet).
- -Mike Substelny
------------------------------
From: Curtis C.Ballard, curtisb(AT)gr.hp.com
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 11:09:46 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Intro/Oil Pressure Q.
I have been lurking here for about a week now, but have not yet introduced
myself. I do not personally own a DeLorean, however I currently have
possession of my fathers which he recently purchased. I will be
continuing
to monitor the list for him. His car is an 81 with 27,500 miles. Sorry I
can't remember the serial number. It is an early one I believe, but don't
know how early will try to get the number later.
My job is to get the car all lubed up and ready for an 800 mile trip after
it has been in storage for an unknown number of years. I have put about
100 miles on it so far and it seems to perform great. Only a couple of
quirks that concern me. First of all it surges at idle when hot, I
suspect
that the problem may be due to old gas still getting worked out. The main
problem that I am worried about however is the oil pressure gauge. It
always reads about 100 psi (straight up). It does seem to fluctuate some
with the rpm's, but never drops below 80. Is this a common problem?
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Curtis C. Ballard (970)
350-4014
Hewlett Packard
curtisb(AT)gr.hp.com
Storage Systems Operation R&D Lab Greeley,
CO
------------------------------
From: Mike Substelny, SUBSTEM(AT)cesmtp.ccf.org
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 13:31:14 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: oil pressure / old gas. My clutch.
Curtis Ballard wrote:
>First of all it surges at idle when hot, I suspect that the
>problem may be due to old gas still getting worked out.
>The main problem that I am worried about however is the oil
>pressure gauge. It always reads about 100 psi (straight
>up).
The good news, Curtis, is that your oil pressure is exactly
what it should be. This is not a problem at all. It will
probably read a little lower if your engine is nice and hot, at
low RPM, with the a/c on, in city traffic, about mid August,
but otherwise it should always be way up there.
The bad news is that if you have an "old gas" problem then
you should be worried. One of the most common disasters
that can befall a DeLorean is to be stored without being
driven. There are a number of rubber components in the fuel
inlet system (in & around the tank) that will turn to flaky
black stuff if exposed to old gas. The stored car will be fine
until you start the engine; at that moment the stuff gets
sucked into the engine AND DESTROYS YOUR FUEL
INJECTOR! This is very expensive.
The fuel inlet system should undergo a total rehabilitation
after the car has been stored with fuel in the tank BEFORE
you start the engine.
On the car you have I recommend that you remove the fuel
pump and physically inspect the boot and inlet parts for
deterioration. Also look at the gasoline itself. Is it full of
floaties? If you are lucky the fuel is clean, the rubber is in
good shape, and all you need is a little dry gas and a fresh
tank of high test. In this case your surging may be due to
the idle control switch above the throttle (the fix for this was
described a few months ago in the DML I think).
BTW Curtis, welcome aboard.
Earlier I mentioned that my clutch "blew out" last night.
What really happened was: I was stopped at a light in the
middle of downtown Cleveland. I was in first gear and idling
fine. As I let out the clutch I heard this horrible grinding
sound but no movement. I tried second . . . nothing. In third
I got on slight forward push, enough to coast to the side of
the road, then nothing. No action in any gear.
Obviously I hope this is a clutch problem and not
transmission, but I haven't checked yet. 50,000 miles
seems like the right time for a clutch plate to go but too
young for a transmission. Last week when I parked the car
on that hill I left it in gear and it seemed like the clutch
slipped a little bit, but I wasn't quite sure. I will be reading
my service manual today and crawling under the car tonite or
tomorrow to see.
Assuming it is the friction plate, does anyone know a Volvo
or other equivalent? I'll be ordering a steel braided cable this
week anyway, but I could have clutch parts today if I knew
what to look for.
Thanks for helping.
- -Mike Substelny
------------------------------
From: George B.Ford, fordgb(AT)aur.alcatel.com
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 14:50:39 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Water Hose Problem
With all of the talk about radiators and plastic or metal
bottles recently, I thought you might be interested in the following.
A few days ago I checked the water level on my 81 DeLorean and
it was down a bit so I filled it up with anti-freeze. It has been
very hot and humid in Raleigh recently and I use the DeLorean as a
daily driver. Parking at work in the morning or after lunch, I
kept seeing a little anti-freeze flowing out from under the car.
I didn't think much about it because I decided that I had overfilled
the bottle and excess was boiling out. Checked in back and it sure
looked like the anti-freeze was comming out of the overflow pipe.
Turns out it wasn't. Yesterday on the way back to work a steam cloud
began to develop behind the car and the temp guage climed to red.
Fortunatly I was close to work and got parked before driving too long
in an overheat condition.
I let the car cool down while finding a jug to cary water so I could
try to limp it home to see what was wrong. I was thinking stuck
thermostat or bad water pump or any number of other expensive and
time consuming repair problems.
When I started pouring water in, I noticed a small amount of steam
and water comming out of the underside of the upper radiator hose.
With further investigation I found that the fan belt next to the
hose had worn a small groove in the hose and had finally broken
a very small hole through the hose. In looking at the hose and fan
belt there seemed to be clearence between the two, about a half inch,
but when the engine was reved fairly high and fast, the motor would
torque just enough to have the belt rub against the underside of the
hose. I do not know how long this has been going on because the hose
has not been changed since I bought the car about 3 years ago.
Changed the hose with a stock off the shelf hose, but made sure that
during the installation that I had additional room between the hose
and the fan belt. Works fine now.
george
------------------------------
From: Curtis C.Ballard, curtisb(AT)gr.hp.com
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 15:21:48 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: oil pressure / old gas.
A couple of people have written promptly to suggest I remove the tank and
inspect all rubber parts before driving the car any further. Thanks for
the suggestions, I will pull the tank ASAP. I have the service manual so
shouldn't have any problems.
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Curtis C. Ballard (970)
350-4014
Hewlett Packard
curtisb(AT)gr.hp.com
Storage Systems Operation R&D Lab Greeley,
CO
------------------------------
From: Marvin S.Sterling, marv930(AT)ix.netcom.com
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 21:00:39 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Embarrassment
At 09:41 AM 6/24/96 -0400, you wrote:
>Driving on 294S in Chicago with my new wife of 24 hours leaving for the
>East coast on our honeymoon and suddenly seeing a cloud of steam behind
>us along with a climbing
>engine temperature. We listened to the audio recording of our wedding
>ceremony while we waited for the tow truck.
>
>But I love my DeLorean....
>
>Bryan Pearce
>
- --------------------------------
Now that IS embarassing, at least the tape deck worked ??
Marv
Marv Sterling
------------------------------
From: Marvin S.Sterling, marv930(AT)ix.netcom.com
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 21:00:57 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: VIN Confusion.
At 03:15 PM 6/24/96 -0400, you wrote:
> All of this talking about VIN's and build dates has managed to
>rekindle my curiosity about my own car, as well as the VIN issue in
>general. My car has VIN 17065, with a build tag stamped September 1982.
>I purchased it from the original owner who, at the time of its purchase,
>was told that it was one of the last 20 cars intended for import into
>Canada. Chase had said that the Canadian cars had 20*** VIN's.
> So far I have gotten the impression that any cars with VIN's
>greater than 16000 (Marv's car) were built by KAPAC. I can only assume
>that the 16*** cars were intended for the American market. Does anyone
>have any info on the intent of the 17*** and 20*** cars?
> Is anyone from KAPAC on line here? Perhaps they could provide
>solid information on VIN ranges, quantities, and intents. Wouldn't it be
>cool to comprise a VIN map from the first to the last with a
>corresponding build calendar and special mention given to unusual cars?
>I know I find it an interesting proposition! Who knows, if spare time
>allows, I may embark on that venture myself.
>
>-Eric
>
- --------------divider
Great idea ! BTW there was a young lady on line sometime back who had a
17xxx vin and had stainless rear louvers ... she had said that her car was
intended for the Canadian market, perhaps both 17xxx and 20xxxx were for
our
northern neighbors.
Marv
Marv Sterling
------------------------------
From: Damien Falato, dgf108(AT)psu.edu
Date: Tue, 25 Jun 1996 21:01:13 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: D1 shipping and exhust manifold gaskets
D1 uses, as far as I can tell, a U.S. based phantom freight method. Thier
shipping is done by UPS and they send, from thier CA shop, via 3rd day
delivery. I get the impression that they went through thier UPS book and
found the moxt expensive place to ship to either in the lower 48 or all
50.
I base this on a recent expirience I had with them. A while ago I posted
about thier newly advertised pull straps that I have since returned.
When I
returned these I was charged 6.20 by UPS to send them back to CA in the 3
day ship that they used. I was informed by the workers at UPS that the
cost
was the same for shipping to CA from Erie PA as is from Erie PA to CA.
That
price was a bit lower than thier shipping charge of 8.90. Erie PA is only
450 milers from NYC, almost clear to the other side of the country from
south CA. What hppened to the other 2.70? I think that D1 uses this
method
to simplify thier records, they only price for shipping they have to look
up
is one, and, weather intentionaly or unintentionaly, to increase thier
profit margin. After all was said and done on this deal I was out 14.40
for
shipping and another 2.70 for D1's phantom freight charge on merchandise I
was unhappy with.
In response to the exhust manifold gaskets, slotting them will only make
them leak more easily. I had them replaced by the local exhust shop
(yes, I
too learned the hard way) just efore expo 94. I urchased D1's gasket kit
and was happy, for a while. Three months later it was leaking again.
When
brought into Grady's shop th job was redone. This time the manifold and
the
block were properly prepared before mounting the new hardware. They were
also replaced by a high quality single peice units that I havn't had any
problems with yet.
Oh yes, one more thing. THANK GOD JZD DIDN'T MERGE DMC WITH
CHRYSLER!!!!!!!!!!! I also own a 94 jeep cherokee, merged into the
chrysler
familyin 89. This vehicle just hit 54K and I now refer to the DMC as the
reliable vehicle. With my DMC when I replace a broken part I can excuse
it
to beinng a 15 year old car and have only had to replace 1 part twice due
to
part failure, all other's were due to improper instalation. The jeep,
well
I'm about t0 start on my third cruize controll switch and not happy to
find
out from the local dealer that crhysler crap electrical replacement parts
have a zero time warenty. I'll take my DMC's 15 year old lucas system
with
bosch replacements over brand new parts that have no warrenty and need
replacement every 9-13 months.
------------------------------
End of dmcnews-digest V2 #133
*****************************
Go to previous digest | Go to next digest.
Back to DeLorean Mailing List Page.
Return to Back Issues page.
Having problems with these pages? Have a good idea for the back Issues? Email me at: backissues(AT)dmcnews.com
Member of the LinkExchange